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[embedded content] Kamaru Usman will put his Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title on the line as he rematches Leon Edwards at UFC 278.

The 12-fight card is now official, although that is one bout fewer than initially planned. This is due to Shanna Young being hospitalized and her fight against Miranda Maverick being canceled as a result. However, all pay-per-view fighters successfully made weight and the card is moving forward largely intact.

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"The Nigerian Nightmare" previously defeated Edwards via unanimous decision back in 2015. Both fighters have improved considerably since then with Usman (20-1) becoming an all-time great and champion in the process. The Floridian looks to make his sixth UFC title defense and make it clear that he's a top pound-for-pound fighter as well. Usman officially weighed 170 pounds on the dot.

Edwards (19-3, 1 NC) hasn't tasted defeat since losing to Usman. "Rocky" has won nine fights since then, including …

Join us for the #KSW73 ceremonial weigh-ins❗️

🕰️ 6pm CEST | 5pm BST | 12pm ET🖥️ Live on Facebook & YouTube

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The fighters come face to face 😤🔥 pic.twitter.com/V3h4ZvYW0o — KSW (@KSW_MMA) August 19, 2022

Headlining KSW 73 is a mixed martial arts bout between Polish kickboxer Arkadiusz Wrzosek , who is making his MMA debut, and Tomasz Sarara. It will be Wrzosek that is the larger man inside the cage as he weighed 8 pounds heavier than Sarara at 243 pounds. All fighters on the card successfully made weight.

Wrzosek holds a professional kickboxing record of 13-5, 1 NC. His most famous victory was a head kick knockout over Badr Hari in 2021. A rematch put on earlier this year was stopped after a riot occurred in the audience. Meanwhile, Sarara is 1-0 inside the KSW cage, having defeated Filip Bradaric last year via TKO. Sarara also has a striking background, having competed in kickboxing as well.

KSW 73 will…

UFC 281 likely now has a co-main event, as reigning women's strawweight champion Carla Esparza will defend against former division ruler Zhang Weili at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12.

Esparza, 19-6, revealed the pairing on her verified Instagram account Thursday afternoon. The bout has not been confirmed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship as of publication time.

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Esparza recently regained the strawweight title for a second time by defeating Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 via split decision, in what was widely considered one of the dullest title fights in mixed martial arts history. Esparza extended her winning streak to six with the crown-clinching performance.

Weili, meanwhile, dispatched of strawweight legend and long-time champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in spectacular fashion at UFC 276 with a spinning back-fist in Round 2. Prior to that, Weili had lost two title fights against Namajunas. Esparza initially announced that she wanted to defend the titl…

Luke Rockhold’s rant regarding fighter pay at the UFC 278 media day certainly seemed to catch Francis Ngannou’s attention.

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The reigning UFC heavyweight champion took to Twitter to reveal that he lost $1 million in potential sponsorship money due to the promotion’s existing deal with a cryptocurrency platform. The UFC’s outfitting policy and and sponsorship restrictions prevented Ngannou from cashing in on a lucrative offer.

“Listening to Luke's interview was very pertinent. A lot of things that nobody is talking about it and the company just rolls with it,” Ngannou wrote. “Fighters are ripped off with sponsorship. It’s a huge source of revenue for us but the company keeps exploiting that for their own benefit.

“I understand that the sport needs to look good with uniforms but we should at least have a right for a minimum of [two] approved sponsors for in the octagon,” he added. Last year I lost a deal of over a million dollars from a crypto e…

Dilano Taylor made the most of his short-notice opportunity in the Professional Fighters League playoffs.

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With two days to go until last Saturday's PFL 8 card in Cardiff, Wales, the organization announced that Taylor would replace Magomed Umalatov in the semifinals of the welterweight tournament. Despite being called up at the last minute and facing the favored Rory MacDonald, the Jamaican surprised “The Red King” with a first-round knockout.

Taylor told Sherdog.com that he was hoping to get a chance to fill in as a substitute while also helping prepare teammate Jason Jackson for his triumph over Douglas Lima at Bellator 283 on July 27.

“I felt like I was destined to be in this competition,” Taylor said. “I always talk about opportunities and how they present themselves. I'm always training and waiting for a chance, and I was helping my partner Jason and I would be his corner as well. So when they called me, I was ready. I just hadn't studied R…

Wanderlei Silva's biography has just gone international.

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The book “Wanderlei Silva: Unleashed” has been translated into English and is available for sale on Amazon. Organized by journalists Thiago Parijiani and Luis Henrique Gurian, translated by Sean White and released by BB Publishing company in the physical version, the book explains how Silva became one of the greatest icons of MMA and reached multiple milestones, including being undefeated for more than five years, setting the record for most Pride Fighting Championships middleweight belt defenses and overall wins in Pride.

In addition, the book reveals Silva’s fear of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), shares details from his most important victories and most difficult defeats and uncovers never-before-disclosed backstage stories such as the time he was knocked out by Charles Bennett backstage just minutes before his rematch with Ricardo Arona.

The e-book version has 283 pages fill…

If Khamzat Chimaev defeats Nate Diaz in the UFC 279 main event next month, a welterweight championship fight could very well be in his future.

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UFC president Dana White indicated as much when asked about what could be next for Chimaev with a win on Sept. 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Chimaev has taken the promotion by storm with wins in his first five appearances, including a decision triumph over Gilbert Burns in his last outing at UFC 273.

“It’s fair,” White said at the Contender Series press conference on Tuesday night. “I don’t ever do that s—t, but yeah, it’s fair to say if he wins, that’s the fight to make. [Usman has] already beat everybody twice in the top whatever, so yeah, that makes sense.”

On the other hand, White is not necessarily on board with Usman’s goal of moving up two divisions to challenge for the 205-pound belt, but he won’t stand in the way if “The Nigerian Nightmare” bests Leon Edwards at UFC 278.

“You know wha…

Esteban Ribovics forced the issue, defense be damned.

The undefeated Nova Uniao prospect booked his spot on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster, as he punched out Thomas Paull in the first round of their lightweight showcase during Week 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Paull (11-4) was cooked just 90 seconds into Round 1.

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Ribovics (11-0) waded through considerable fire and walked the Englishman into a devastating right hook. Paull collapsed downward, and he was in no condition to recover before eating a subsequent punching volley that necessitated the stoppage.

The 26-year-old Ribovics was one of five competitors signed by the UFC, along with Claudio Ribeiro, Nazim Sadykhov, Hailey Cowan and Jose Johnson.

Ribeiro wowed the crowd with a violent knockout of Ivan Valenzuela in the first round of their middleweight confrontation. Valenzuela (8-2) met his end 25 seconds into Round 1, his five-fight…

Sherdog's live DWCS 2022 Week 4 coverage will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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ODDS: Sadykhov (-190); Hasanzada (+160)Round 1 Referee Jason Herzog waves the lightweights into action. Hassanzada comes right out and nails Sadykhov with a spinning back body kick that staggers him. Sadykhov recovers, grabs his opponent’s leg and runs him to the ground. Sadykhov postures up and drops punches and elbows, one of which splits Hassanzada open. A minute in, Hassanzada is bleeding heavily, but has Sadykhov in his closed guard, trying to control his posture. Sadykhov is on top, dropping short shots and scooting Hassanzada toward the fence. Halfway through the round, Hassanzada opens his guard, looking perhaps to escape or mount some offense, but Sadykhov is heavy on top. Sadykhov passes and steps into mount, but as he tries to move to Hassanzada’s back, Hassanzada explodes up.…

Santiago Ponzinibbio and Robbie Lawler will clash at UFC 282 on Dec. 10.

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Promotion broadcast partner ESPN was first to report that the two welterweights had agreed to the matchup. UFC 282 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and is expected to feature a light heavyweight championship rematch between Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira.

After authoring a seven-fight winning streak in the UFC from December 2015 to November 2018, Ponzinibbio has endured some struggles of late. The 35-year-old Argentina native has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a split-decision setback to Michel Pereira in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 206.

A former 170-pound champion, Lawler has also fallen on rough times, losing five of his last six bouts in the promotion dating back to December 2017. “Ruthless” is coming off a second-round TKO loss to Bryan Barberena at UFC 276 on July 2.

Neiman Gracie is one of three fighters from Bellator 284 who is facing a potential indefinite medical suspension following this past Friday’s card.

Gracieo suffered a second-round knockout loss to Goiti Yamauchi in the evening’s welterweight main event at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. As a result, Gracie is suspended indefinitely until he his medically cleared to compete.

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Steve Mowry, who was on the wrong end of an accidental eye poke from Valentin Moldavsky in the evening’s heavyweight co-headliner, is also indefinitely suspended until medically cleared to compete. The foul ended the fight just 54 seconds after it began. Tyson Jeffries, who was knocked out by Sullivan Cauley in a preliminary light heavyweight bout, also faces an indefinite term.

The South Dakota Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions from Bellator 284. Everyone on the card received at least a mandatory seven-day sit. The exact nature of ea…

After victories in his first two promotional appearances, Caio Borralho will return to the Octagon against Makhmud Muradov at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 22.

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So far, the Brazilian middleweight has made a habit of besting Eastern European opponents.

“In my opening fight I gave Russian Gadhzi Omargadhziev his first defeat, and three months later UFC gave me the Armenian Armen Petrosyan, and now, the [Uzbekistan native] Muradov,” Borralho told Sherdog.com. “In the main event Charles [Oliveira] will be facing [Islam] Makhachev. Definitely Russian and Eastern European fans will not be very nice to us in Abu Dhabi. But I'm really not worried about that. I have no doubt me and Charles will have a Brazilian party in Abu Dhabi.”

According to Borralho, the experience of having trained with Demian Maia, Paulo Costa, Sean Strickland and having the experienced Vale Tudo fighter Flávio Alvaro as head coach makes him pretty self confident that he can go far…

Earlier this week, Shane Burgos made a somewhat surprising announcement that he was leaving the UFC to sign with Professional Fighters League.

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The move comes on the heels of back-to-back triumphs for the Team Tiger Schulmann representative in UFC competition. However, Burgos said the PFL’s offer far surpassed that of his former promotion.

“Last time it was relatively close, that’s why I was like, ‘It’s not that big of a difference.’ It was a bigger difference [this time],” Burgos said. “It was a six-figure difference back then what I was going to get paid from the PFL and I turned that down to stay with the UFC. Now, it’s obviously bigger than that.”

In an interview with Yahoo Sports, UFC president Dana White made the rare admission that the promotion dropped the ball by not resigning Burgos, who was 8-3 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based organization.

“That’s a good question,” White said when asked why Burgos was not re-signe…

Bantamweights coming to #UFC280 in Abu Dhabi!

@LinaLansberg vs @KarolRosaUFC @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/kFJsr3ygsg

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) August 16, 2022

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A bantamweight clash pitting Karol Rosa against Lina Lansberg has been added to the UFC 280 lineup.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Tuesday. UFC 280 takes place on Oct. 22 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a lightweight championship showdown between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev.

The 27-year-old Rosa had a six-fight professional winning streak snapped in her last outing, as she dropped a unanimous decision to former title challenger Sara McMann at UFC on ESPN 33 on March 26. She began her promotional tenure with consecutive decision triumphs over Lara Procopio , Vanessa Melo, Joselyne Edwards and Bethe Correia.

Lansberg, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back losses to Pannie …

Dominick Cruz could be sidelined for up to six months following his knockout loss Marlon Vera in the UFC on ESPN 41 main event.

Cruz is facing a 180-day term unless he is cleared by an ear, nose and throat doctor for a potential nose injury. The former UFC bantamweight champion’s nose was clearly damaged from the head kick that ended his night at the 2:17 mark of Round 4. At a minimum he is suspended for 45 days with 30 days of no contact. The California State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions from the event, which took place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

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Everyone on the card received at least a seven-day mandatory medical suspension. Meanwhile, four other fighters are facing potential 180-day sits pending doctor clearance: Devin Clark (left hand, right foot), Lupita Godinez (chest), Gabriel Benitez (left hand, left ankle, left elbow) and Charlie Ontiveros (right toe).

UFC on ESPN 41 Medical Suspensions:

…

For many years, Leandro Vieira was responsible for sharpening the ground skills of American Kickboxing Academy fighters.

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For the last two years, however, the brother of legendary Leonardo Vieira did not renew his contract with AKA and instead decided to focus 100% on his jiu-jitsu classes.

"The way everything finished with AKA, even still having many friends out there, I decided to not work with MMA [fighters] anymore,” the black belt said.

Vieira changed his mind upon receiving an invitation from UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Vera.

"Actually we knew each other on ‘TUF: Latin America,’ where I was the BJJ coach for [Cain] Velasquez and he was from the [Fabricio] Werdum team,” Vieira said. “Two years ago we met again at RVCA and I showed him some tips on knee control, and he got mad and invited me to train with him. Since his fight with [Sean] O´Malley, we have been working together. I had no doubt he was going surprise O’Malley, just like…

Huseyn Aliyev got a second chance at the Fury FC featherweight belt, and he made it count.

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Aliyev defeated Andres Quintana in an interim title bout in February but missed weight, rendering him ineligible to win the belt. Nonetheless, the “Azeri Warrior” showed enough in that performance to earn a shot at lineal titleholder Nate Richardson, and their five-round duel at Fury FC 67 on Sunday was as hard-fought and evenly matched as any in the promotion’s history. The early rounds were characterized by the contrast between Richardson’s sharp jab and chopping low kicks, and Aliyev’s crushing pressure against the cage. Aliyev made numerous takedown attempts using a variety of judo trips and throws, but never succeeded in bringing the fight to the ground for any appreciable length of time. With the exception of Round 4, when Aliyev dropped Richardson with a pair of right hooks, every round of the fight was a battle in itself that could have been scored for …

Former light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes will return to action for the first time in more than a year when he meets Ryan Spann at UFC 281.

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MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. UFC 281 takes place on Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York and features a middleweight title fight pitting Israel Adesanya against Alex Pereira.

Reyes began his professional career with 12 consecutive triumphs — a run that included six wins in the UFC. He lost a narrow decision to Jon Jones in a light heavyweight title bout at UFC 247 and has since suffered KO/TKO losses to former champ Jan Blachowicz and current 205-pound king Jiri Prochazka. His most recent appearance, a second-round KO loss to Prochazka at UFC on ESPN 23, occurred on May 1, 2021.

A former competitor on Dana White’s Contender Series, Spann has been victorious in six of his eight Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Superman” submitted Ion Cutelaba in the opening sta…

A third meeting between Angela Lee and Jingnan Xiong will serve as the main event for One Championship’s second event on Amazon Prime Video.

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The Singapore-based promotion confirmed the pairing on Monday following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. One on Prime Video 2 takes place on Sept. 30 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The evening’s main card will stream live in the United States on Prime Video at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Xiong’s strawweight (125-pound) belt will be on the line in the trilogy bout.

Lee and Xiong initially squared off at One Championship “A New Era,” with Xiong retaining her belt with a fifth-round technical knockout victory in March 2019. Xiong dropped to atomweight (115 pounds) for the rematch in an attempt to become a two-division champion, but Lee retained her crown with a fifth-round submission at One Championship “Century Part 1” in October 2019.

Lee returned following more than a two-year layof…

Professional Fighters League made Shane Burgos an offer he couldn’t refuse.

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The 11-time UFC veteran announced Monday on "The MMA Hour” that he has parted ways with the Las Vegas-based promotion to sign a contract with the PFL. Burgos completed his deal with a majority decision triumph over Charles Jourdain at UFC on ABC 3 on July 16.

“That was the last fight of my deal,” Burgos said. “I said after the fight that I wanted to test free agency, test the waters. I know what I am worth, I wanted to see what everyone else thought I was worth. So I went out there, I tested the free agency market and I’m excited to announce that I’m signing with the PFL.

“It was not an easy decision. It was an offer I couldn’t turn it [down]. I’ve got two daughters, I’ve got to go back home, I’ve got to look at them in the face when it’s all said and done in this sport. With this deal I feel like that will secure that.”

Burgos said that the PFL contract is not…

The fourth week of Dana White’s Contender Series is now official, as all 10 athletes slated for combat hit their contracted marks on the scale without issue on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a lightweight clash pitting Thomas Paull (155.5) against Esteban Ribovics (155).

Paull has won three straight contests, all by knockout or technical knockout. The 27-year-old Englishman known as “Juggernaut” owns an 11-3 career mark and has finished all of his victories inside the distance.

Anchored at Nova Uniao Argentina, Ribovics will bring a perfect 10-0 mark to the Contender Series. The 27-year-old has finished all of his wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission, capturing the Fusion Fighting Championship title along the way.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Thomas Paull (155.5) vs. Esteban Ribovics (155)Claudio Ribeiro (181.5) vs. Iva…

Marlon Vera and his team had a pretty good idea that he could finish Dominick Cruz in emphatic fashion.

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In fact, Vera’s coach, Jason Parillo, sent the fighter an image early in the week foreshadowing the head kick knockout that would end Cruz’s night in the UFC on ESPN 41 headliner at Pechanga Arena in San Diego on Saturday night.

“Like six days ago, my coach sent a picture,” Vera said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “It was literally [Pedro] Munhoz kicking his body [in their fight at UFC 269], and his head was dipping all the way down. He didn’t text anything, just sent me the picture. I picked it up like he’s giving me a message. And in the third round he told me, ‘Punch in the air, have him dip, and throw a f—ing haymaker.’ And I was like, ‘Thank you, coach.’”

When his opponent dipped his head, Vera landed a vicious head kick that sent Cruz face first to the canvas, and a few follow-up shots sealed the victory at the 2:17 mark of …

B.J. Penn won’t be holding political office in Hawaii.

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The UFC Hall of Famer lost the Republican primary by a wide margin on Saturday, garnering just 22.2 percent of the vote. Two-time Republican Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona won by receiving 47.5 percent of the vote and will go against Democratic representative Josh Green in the general election on Nov. 8.

Penn announced his intention to run for governor this past October with a campaign that focused heavily on lifting COVID-19-related restrictions in Hawaii.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life but I would never run from a fight or sell out my people,” Penn wrote last October. “As soon as I step into Hawaii’s Governor office I will remove All new federal and state mandates that have been hurting our economy, residents, and ‘ohana. We will get the best doctors, medicines, therapies, and health care the world has to offer to fight this pandemic and always keep Hawaii among the safest and …